Don’t Pass Over the Kosherfest

Passover this year is a good reminder that the gala Kosherfest is really a year-long event of education before its massive trade show. Just take a look at how Kosherfest has flourished with more than 350 exhibitors, how more and more everyday products are becoming kosher, and why everyone is talking about the event now, even though it won't take place until Oct. 29 and 30, 2013.

"In 2013 Kosherfest will celebrate its 25th year as the largest kosher food, beverage, wine, and spirits trade show, a period in which the industry grew from a few thousand certified kosher items to more than 150,000," said Menachem Lubinsky, founder and co-producer of Kosherfest, to The Daily Meal in an email.

It used to be that the kosher aisle in your local grocery store looked, well, pretty anemic, but now you can get exotic items like kosher truffle oil. Some of the items available at Kosherfest are desserts, oil and vinegar, as well as matzo, panko, and quinoa.

"To accommodate the growth of kosher, 92 countries now produce kosher food ingredients and products," Lubinsky added. "Major food companies have changed their ingredients and equipment in order to get kosher certification, and consumers, both Jewish and non-Jewish, seek the kosher symbol on the food products they buy more than ever before. Kosherfest is indeed an international showcase of kosher foods with exhibitors from around the world."

Clearly, kosher is expanding across all countries.

"The development of kosher into a mainstream category was what I dreamt about when I closed my eyes 25 years ago," Lubinsky said. "I couldn’t accept that kosher would be all about stuffed cabbage and chopped liver. I believed that kosher could go upscale but in my wildest dream, I could not imagine that it would take off the way it did. Speak about imagining the unimaginable and it is the way I felt back when Kosherfest started."